Christmas Week in Photos

Without a doubt, having a toddler at Christmas is amazingly fun. We've spent entire days (in a row) in our pajamas, painted on every paper plate we own, eaten popcorn for dinner. trashed the playroom, laid in bed and watched Mickey's Christmas and convinced Daddy to play hooky a time or two. I honestly can't wait until tomorrow because it will be Justin's last day of work for a bit and we can finally squeeze in some time without work crashing our party. I'm loving our advent calendar, opening Christmas cards (I finally mailed mine yesterday), and catching up with friends over coffee. Surprisingly, our ornaments are holding strong on our tree but despite the lack of ornament interest, I haven't been brave enough to wrap most of our gifts and expose them to the toddler elements. We still have a few things to do on our to-do list, like making the Pioneer Woman cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning breakfast, but otherwise, I think I'm ready for the big day! I genuinely cannot wait to see Gray's face when he walks into our living room on Christmas morning.

I thought a classic photo dump might be the best way to share our week, so here ya go! Enjoy!

P.S. I'll be back tomorrow with the final post of 2016 and a secret that I've been dying to share...

I met up with my fave Amanda Louise for a little Christmas breakfast this week and loved catching up with her. Without a doubt, blogging has brought so many amazing things into my life including dear friendships that I cherish. She and I are cooking up some fun things for 2017 and I can't wait to see what we get into.

Confession: I think my parents and Justin's parents are the hardest people to gift on Earth. They don't actually need anything, swear the don't want anything and I want to gift them unique and thoughtful gifts that they will love. Thankfully, I found the perfect gift and Minted was kind enough to partner with me to share the details! Minted makes stunning Custom Silhouette Art Prints of your babes, pets or the special people in your life. It couldn't have been easier to create - I sent them a fairly terrible photo of Gray's profile (imagine me saying "look at your books!" or whatever would get him to look to the side!) and Minted did the rest!

My in-laws and my parents have super different home decor styles but I was able to use the same silhouette and choose from different frames, matte options, colors and personalized details. My parents have more of a beachy, colorful vibe in their home so I went with steel blue silhouette and the Whitewashed Herringbone frame, which I love. My in-laws love old family photos and celebrating our family genealogy so for their home, I chose a taupe silhouette and a sleek Matte Black frame that will match the framed vintage family photos that they have on display. Both of the prints are 8x10" but thanks to the framing and white boarder option, they look unique and custom. Each silhouette has his initials under his sweet little face (they are hidden by the scarf in the photo) and I honestly think both sets of parents will love their silhouettes. I told Justin that I really wish I had ordered one for myself (hint hint when it comes to Valentine's Day or Mother's Day, Justin!).

And P.S. the options and size I chose brought the total of each framed print to less than $75!

Nothing makes me happier than pre-school holiday art. I thought it would be hard to beat last year's "Mistletoes" footprint art but I think the toddler foot/baby Jesus in the manger might just take the cake! Gray was sick and we missed the last week of school but we have loved this school year and we cannot wait for the school year to pick back up in January.

We got a little crafty this week creating salt dough ornaments for our family and friends (and by crafty, I mean messy). Gray loved paining and I'm excited in the way that only a mom can be to hang one of those babies on my tree for the rest of my life.

I hope everyone has had a fun week and is surviving school break. It's been such a fun year and I am so grateful to each of you for following along. I hope your holidays are filled with love, laughter and many family members who offer to babysit!